Thomas Jennefelt, Composer

Born: April 24, 1954 in Huddinge, Sweden

Education: studied composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with Gunnar Bucht and Arne Mellnäs

Awards and honors: in 2001 awarded the Royal Litteris et Artibus Medal, and in 2004 was appointed vice president of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm; from 1994-2000, was a chairman of the Society of Swedish Composers

Notable compositions: choral works: Warning to the Rich, O Domine, Five Motets, Villarosa Sequences, The Hidden Fountain, Dichterliebe (I-X); instrumental music: Music by a mountain, Desiderio for orchestra; operas: Albert och Julia, The Jesters’ Hamlet, The Vessel, Sport & Leisure

Commissions: from a number of Swedish choirs as well as Vokalconsort Berlin, Bayerische Rundfunkchor, The Swingle Singers, Kammerchor Saarbrücken, Ex Cathedra in Birmingham, Microkosmos (Vierzon) and Musikhochschule Basel

Quote: “I curse text. I need text. Without text there is no music. I let the dramaturgy of the text be that of the music. I can’t find the form of a piece if I don’t have a text.” – Thomas Jennefelt